My Heart Searches for You
by Niana7064
Summary: As a child, Maria Hawke met an elf named Leto, the two had been very close and inseparable ever since. Then after a Tevinter magister takes his family as new slaves, Leto and Maria promise to never forget each other. But things change drastically for Leto as he became a slave and Maria awaits for him. Then, whose heart searches for who after six years since that depart?
1. Prologue

**Title: **My Heart Searches for You

**Genre: **Romance, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Fantasy

**Pairings: **Fem. Hawke x Fenris, Aveline x Donnic, one-sided Fem. Hawke x Anders, Sebastian x Bethany

**Summary: **Back when she was a child, Maria Hawke met a slightly older elf named Leto. Since their first meeting, the two were very close and hardly seen apart. When he had to leave with his new master for the Tevinter Imperium, Maria and Leto make a promise to never forget each other. Once back in Tervinter, things change drastically for Leto as his life as a slave begins. As the years past, Maria hangs onto her hope of finding him again. But when she meets another elf that somehow appears familiar to her, can the promise remain in her heart after six years? In the end, whose heart searches for who?

* * *

**Prologue**

Maria Hawke, a girl no older than fifteen with short black hair that reaches slightly past her neck and blue eyes, a tattoo of a red dragon on her right cheek with the wings wrap around her right eye, sets her Ferelden bow and quiver in their usual place against her back. As she prepares to do her usual chore, hunting, twelve year old Bethany, her small wand always on hand, approaches her sister with curiosity across her little face, watching her gather a couple things, "What do you think you'll get this time, Sister?"

Filling her canteen, Maria shrugs. "I don't know. Hopefully something big so we can have it for supper."

Then she notices the necklace, the locket, around Maria's neck. Another question surfaced in her mind and Bethany asks, "Will that boy be with you again?"

At that question, Maria holds the heart-shaped pendant close as she thought about Leto. She first met the elf back when she was ten and he was eleven.

At the time, she had been practicing with her very first shortbow and arrows in the woods outside of Lothering when she saw a slightly older elf with tan skin, brown hair and dark green eyes fending off against two wolves. Without any hesitation, Maria held a firm grip on her bow and instantly fought beside him.

Once the wolves were dealt with thanks to their teamwork, the boy had turned to her once he had replaced his short blade sword back in its place on his back, "I appreciate the help, but I could handle those wolves myself."

Setting her bow back as well, Maria first gives him a smile. "It doesn't hurt to have back up." Then she offers her hand to him, the elf at first confused at the gesture. "I'm Maria Hawke."

Turning his gaze from her offered hand to her blue eyes, the elf returns her smile as he took her hand into his own. "Leto."

Afterwards, the two were inseparable, always finding time to be together, either they went hunting, explore Lothering and the surrounding areas, or even just have quiet days by the lakes. At some point, there were kids in the village that had attempted to bully Leto for being a knife-ear freak, but with Maria always beside him, they would fend off against the bullies every time they encounter them.

Eventually, Maria once introduced Leto to her family while his own younger sister Varania was still shy about meeting her. At the first meeting, both her parents welcomed Leto, Carver had been annoyed after discovering his sister had spent a lot of her time with the elf, and Bethany had been the most happy for her sister.

They had been together for five years and Leto had become a very important person to Maria and she to him. However, sadly, a very rich machister from the Tevinter Imperium had taken Leto and his family as his new slaves and that they will be returning to Tevinter.

At the sad news, Maria had two special lockets forged, both having a picture and engraving inside the pendants. She has a picture of Leto in her locket and a picture of her in Leto's, both have an engravement next to the pictures.

Holding her locket fondly as she remembers all of the memories they share, Maria picks up the one for Leto and answers her sister, "I hope so. The Tevinter magister will be leaving with his family soon. I hope I can be able to give this to him." Maria shows the second locket to Bethany before placing the gift into her pocket.

"I hope so, too." Bethany says with a hopeful smile.

Maria returns the smile. Once she has everything, she leaves her home with Bethany returning to their father, Malcolm, to continue her training.

Stepping outside into the partly cloudy late morning, Maria inhales the crisp air and smiles in content. With her bow and quiver secured on her back and Leto's locket safe in her pocket, the eldest Hawke child leaves her home to make her way to their special meeting spot.

Approaching the edge of the woods, sure enough Leto, now age sixteen, is there, standing against one tree, waiting for her. Hearing her footsteps, Leto opens his eyes and smiles when he sees Maria. As she got closer, Leto opened his arms to her and Maria is instantly in his warm embrace.

"I'm glad you could make it." Maria said when she leans back to set her blue gaze on the tan elf's green pair.

"You know full well I would never miss a chance to see you, Maria." Leto gives her a certain smile he only has for her.

Then he notices the dragon tattoo. The smile remains as he gently caress her right cheek, his thumb tracing one wing. "I always thought this dragon suited you best." He's always said that ever since she got the tattoo on her thirteenth birthday.

At his words, her cheeks turn a hint of pink and she turns her gaze away for a moment before reaching into her pocket. "I have something for you, Leto."

Noticing at the corner of her eye to see him perk up with curiosity, Maria takes out the second locket and gently set the pendant in his waiting hand. Surprised with the gift she's given him, Leto opens the locket to find a picture of her inside along with the engraving reading "Never forget me."

Being left speechless, once Leto returns his gaze back to her, Maria shows her own locket, completely identical with a picture of him in her's and the same engraved message. "After hearing that magister will be taking you and your family back to Tevinter with him, I had these forged so when you're gone, you'll have a part of me with you."

A moment later, Leto had her in an embrace once again. "Thank you, Maria. You know that I can never forget you."

Happy at those words, Maria wraps her arms around the elf, making a silent promise that he'll stay in her thoughts. Afterwards, the two spend their last day together hunting for the best meat that Maria will have with her family later that night.

As the day moved into the afternoon, the pair did find a decent sized buck. However, it was now time for Leto to return to his master so they could depart for their long journey to the Tevinter Imperium. With Maria seeing them off, the two were locked in one last embrace. "I'll miss you." Maria vows with Leto tightening the hug.

"I'll miss you too." As much as he doesn't want to, Leto reluctantly released her, his locket around his neck but hidden under his tunic in fear of his master taking it away.

With that, Leto joins his family and new master in the caravan, Maria waving until the caravan was long out of sight. As her hand lowers to her side, Maria silently prays that they will meet again someday.

Leaving Ferelden had not been easy for Leto. But now that the man, Danarius is his master, he can't help but wonder how life as a slave would be like.

As they had traveled to the Tevinter Imperium, a woman by the name of Hadriana, Danarius' apprentice, continues to give Leto creepy smiles, as if secretly saying that once they are back home, his life as a slave will start rather roughly.

After weeks up to a month of traveling, they arrive back at Danarius' mansion in the Tevinter Imperium, the magister and Hadriana lead Leto away from his mother and Varania with the girl reaching out to her brother while their mother just held her back, no trace of a single tear in her eyes while her daughter bawled with worry for her brother before the two went off to start on their first order of work with other slaves.

Once in a secluded chamber, Danarius gathers a couple things while Hadriana straps Leto to an examination table with help from a guard since he resisted as much as he could against them with little to no success.

With him secured on the table, Danarius approaches the table while Hadriana steps aside, that wicked smirk across her face. Leto notices that Danarius has an open book in one hand and a strange ore in the other. "This ritual shall make you my pet." were all Danarius had said before he began chanting, Hadriana making an ominous humming song.

As the chant and song continue, the ore, revealed to be raw lyrium, began to glow with a bright blue light. Terrified, Leto fought against the restraints with no success as Danarius holds the lyrium over his body. Then as the lyrium fused into his flesh, Leto screamed in agonizing pain as the lyrium took on a form of strange markings in his skin.

In that instant as the pain became more excruciating, Leto thought about Maria, wanting nothing more than to hold the locket she had given to him in that moment.

But then his mind had gone completely blank and his screams ceased. As the pain subsides with his brown hair turning white and his dark green eyes take on a lighter shade, the elf pants as Danarius concludes the ritual. "From this moment on, you are now Fenris, my little wolf, my pet."

The ritual complete, Danarius instructs Hadriana to undo his restraints and take him to the slave quarters while he'll be off to work at the Tevinter Chantry. With a single nod to her master, she frees Fenris and leads him to his assigned room.

Being led to his room, Fenris instantly takes ahold of the pendant around his neck since it had been a very strong desire a moment ago, yet he wasn't sure why he had this strong feeling in his heart.


	2. Escape

**Chapter 1**

**Escape**

Six years. More than half a decade since she last saw Leto. With each passing day, the elf is always on her mind as Maria does her daily routines without him. Today, however, she is too distracted to do anything. Maria is lounging in the front lobby, holding her locket, currently open to stare at the picture of her closest friend and the engraved message, her heart feeling heavy with how much she misses him. Her hair had grown longer over the years with a small amount of her hair in two side braids that wrap around her head while the rest flows down her back and in front of her shoulders.

Maria was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Bethany, now eighteen, approach with the family mabari, Fenhaure, beside the young mage. As Fenhaure lay his noble head on the rogue's lap, Bethany sits beside her sister, catching her attention. "Sorry Beth, didn't hear you."

Bethany nods her head in understanding. "You miss him, huh?"

Maria gazes back at her locket before closing her fingers around the precious pendant, closing the locket in the process. "Every day since he left for Tevinter with his master."

She could feel that she is on the verge of tears, but she fought to keep them back. Then Bethany wraps her arms around her older sister in comfort.

Just then, Carver had returned home in a hurry from patrolling. "With the fall of Ostagar, Lothering is now under attack by the Darkspawn!"

Freeing herself from Bethany's hug and replacing her necklace back in place around her neck, Maria went to the one window that had a clear view of the village. Checking outside, sure enough Lothering is under siege by many Darkspawn. Stepping away from the window before any Darkspawn could spot her, Maria turns to her siblings. "We need to go."

No instructions needed, Bethany went to get their mother, Leandra while Maria and Carver gather only their weapons and Bethany's staff. Once all three Hawke siblings were ready and Fenhaure waiting patiently beside her, Maria checks out the back door, being certain the escape route is clear. Seeing that not a single Darkspawn is near the house yet, she signals her family to run beside her.

Without hesitation, Maria dashes out the back of the house, Fenhaure right beside her while Bethany ran out after her, followed by their mother with Carver taking the rear. With no other choice, Maria and her family run into the Wilds, leaving Lothering behind as the village went up in flames.

Having been running for half a day now, Maria and her siblings can hear Darkspawn scouts in hot pursuit of the family. Tired from all the running, Leandra pants and collapsed to her knees, short on breath, causing her children to turn back to help their mother as the scouts closed in on her. Bethany conjures up a wall of fire, stopping most of the scouts. Any that escaped the fire wall were slain by Maria's rapidly shot arrows followed up by Fenhaure taking a couple out and any that were left, Carver killed in a swift motion with his sword.

With the Darkspawn down and the three replace their ideal weapons to their backs, Carver turns to Maria. "I think that's all of them that managed to be outside of Bethany's fire wall." Maria nods in confirmation as she also gives Fenhaure scratches of approval behind one ear with the mabari licking his mistress' fingers.

But their mother carries a sad expression. "Gone. Everything your father and I worked for, we lost it all in the siege."

Ceasing with the scratches for Fenhaure, Maria says, "I know how much Lothering meant to you, mother. But we need to leave."

"Why didn't we leave sooner?" Bethany asks with a shrug. "Why did you make us wait until the Darkspawn arrived at the village?" She then glares at Carver.

"Don't look at me like that. I've been running since Ostagar fell." Carver stood his ground.

"Listen, you two," Maria stops them from bickering more, "the Darkspawn will be on us any minute if we stay here." She looks to the wall of fire to see the Darkspawn scouts remaining trapped behind it, praying to the Maker the fire wall lasts long enough for the family to escape.

"Please, listen to your sister." their mother implores them.

"Ok then, lead on." Carver nods his head in the direction opposite of where they came from.

With that, Maria leads her family through the Wilds. As they travel on, Bethany had wondered where they were going exactly with Carver simply saying anywhere to get away from the Darkspawn. "But we can't just wander aimlessly." Bethany points out.

"What is important is that we do not separate." Maria says with a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.

Leandra takes a small moment to think of somewhere they can go to. "We should go to Kirkwall."

At the name of the city in the Free Marches, all three of her children gape at her. "Are you certain that's wise?" Maria asks, thinking about how things are for mages there, becoming worried for her sister.

"There are a lot of Templars in Kirkwall." Bethany reminded her.

"I know, dear." Leandra nods. "But we have family there. And an estate."

Considering their options since Lothering is gone, the girls sigh, agreeing that they should take ship in Gwaren with Carver stating that anywhere is better than where they currently are.

Farther along the path, they find a couple fending off against a group of Darkspawn. After one scout came up behind the man and injure him bad enough for his sword arm to no longer be of any use, the woman took down the scout, determined not to lose him.

Without hesitation, the Hawke siblings join in and the four kill the rest of the scouts. Discovering that Bethany is a mage, the man did not seem pleased to have earned aid from a mage, saying "The order dictates…", causing Maria to stand protective of her younger sister.

Once the woman reminded him that they had saved them and the man settled down, she had introduced herself as Aveline Vallen, the man is her husband Ser Wesley. They had revealed that they were at Ostagar when the army fell due to the general's betrayal to King Cailan.

Even though she hates the thought of a Templar traveling with them, Maria asks if Wesley can handle traveling due to his injuries, Aveline promises to fight for the both of them. When they mentioned North has been cut off, Maria declares they head South with her taking the lead.

Further into the Wilds after killing more scouts, as the group cross a wide open area, they feel the ground tremble as an ogre came stomping into the area. Maria, Bethany, Aveline and Wesley dodge the ogre, Carver took a protective stance in front of Leandra. "Soulless bastards!" Carver exclaims before charging in.

Unfazed, the ogre reached out and with a firm hold on Carver, smashes him against the hard Earth twice before tossing his bloodied corpse aside. "Carver!" Leandra screams and ran over to her lifeless son.

Horrified at the sight of their brother killed, Maria and Bethany attack the ogre without mercy while Aveline and Fenhaure take care of the Darkspawn scouts. The ogre slain and the scouts dead, Leandra attempts to wake Carver but had no success. Kneeling beside their mother, Maria says, "Carver gave his life to protect us."

Then Leandra glares at her oldest daughter, scolding her for allowing him to charge in for an attack against the ogre that had cost him his life. They may not have been close, but Carver was her brother and Maria loved him just as much as she loves Bethany. "We can't stay here, mother, or Carver's sacrifice would have been in vain." Bethany points out, giving Maria the thought that unless they leave, more Darkspawn could arrive.

First asking for permission, Wesley gives a passing rite for Carver then Leandra vows to never forget her son. But before the group could leave, to their fear, more Darkspawn arrive. After a few were slain, the group find themselves surrounded as there appeared to be no end to this horde.

Hearing a mighty roar from behind, Maria, Bethany and Aveline glance back at the mountain behind them to see an opening to appear only to reveal that seated upon the mountain peak is a dragon as it's wings expand out and the dragon release another roar. Kicking off its perch, the dragon swooped down into the area, the three women get low to the ground as the dragon kills all of the surrounding Darkspawn while snatching a lone survivor in its sharp talons.

All the dark creatures dead, as the dragon lands before the group, it became engulfed in a strange light as the dragon now changed form to appear as a woman. Dropping the dead Darkspawn, the woman stands before the group, stating that they don't get visitors in the Wilds often. While tending to Wesley as he grows weak while Maria warns the woman to stay away from them, Aveline reveals that the woman is the Witch of the Wilds. The witch smirked at the title and adds that she is also known as Flemeth.

The introductions out of the way, Flemeth points that if they want to escape the horde, they are actually heading in the wrong direction. That meant they are actually heading towards more danger, not away from it. "We need to get to Kirkwall." Bethany explained of where they plan to travel to in order to escape.

This had perked the witch's curiosity. "That's quite a journey. Won't you be missed by your dear king?" Her question sounded like a mock.

"We lost our king due to betrayal. We can't remain here while Fereldan falls." Maria points out.

Flemeth takes a moment to consider the options. "I can help you get past the horde if you promise to do something for me." Flemeth says, giving her offer to Maria, Fenhaure beside her, growling at the witch. Unfazed by the mabari's warning, Flemeth informs Maria of a group of Dalish elves currently camped on the mountain outside of Kirkwall. Handing her an amulet, Flemeth instructs the oldest Hawke to give the amulet to their Keeper.

Thinking of it as a simple task, Maria hears Flemeth mention that before they leave, there was one more matter that needs to be taken care of first, the witch setting her eyes on the weakened Templar. Aveline warns Flemeth to stay away from him until Wesley mentions that he is undergoing the corruption, a slow and painful death after being attacked.

At a loss of what to do, no hope of saving her husband, Maria convinces Aveline to kill Wesley, ending his misery. As much as she hates the thought of losing him to the Blight, Aveline nods once in understanding. Given his blade to her, Wesley tells her to be strong before Aveline forces the small blade into a vital organ in his side, ending Wesley's suffering and life.

Understanding her pain since she lost her brother, Maria comforts Aveline. She doesn't say anything, but the warrior appreciates her concern. With that done, Flemeth leads the group out of the area, stating that their troubles have only just begun. Following the witch, Maria holds her locket, her mind once again on Leto.


End file.
